| AUTORES |
Calvo N, Abrevaya S, Martínez Cuitiño M, Steeb B, Zamora D, Sedeño L, Ibáñez A & García AM |
|---|---|
| 2019 | |
| JOURNAL | Frontiers in Psychology 10, 570 |
| VOLUMEN | Marzo, 2019 |
| ABSTRACT | Above and beyond the critical contributions of left perisylvian regions to language, the neural networks supporting pragmatic aspects of verbal communication in native and non-native languages (L1s and L2, respectively) have often been ascribed to the right hemisphere (RH). However, several reports have shown that left-hemisphere activity associated with pragmatic domains (e.g., prosody, indirect speech, figurative language) is comparable to or even greater than that observed in the RH, challenging the proposed putative role of the latter for relevant domains. Against this background, we report on an adult bilingual patient showing preservation of pragmatic verbal skills in both languages (L1: Spanish, L2: English) despite bilateral damage mainly focused on the RH. After two strokes, the patient sustained lesions in several regions previously implicated in pragmatic functions (vast portions of the right fronto-insulo-temporal cortices, the bilateral amygdalae and insular cortices, and the left putamen). Yet, comparison of linguistic and pragmatic skills with matched controls revealed spared performance on multiple relevant tasks in both her L1 and L2. Despite mild difficulties in some aspects of L2 prosody, she showed no deficits in comprehending metaphors and idioms, or understanding indirect speech acts in either language. Basic verbal skills were also preserved in both languages, including verbal auditory discrimination, repetition of words and pseudo-words, cognate processing, grammaticality judgments, equivalent recognition, and word and sentence translation. Taken together, the evidence shows that multiple functions of verbal communication can be widely spared despite extensive |
| Diversos modelos clásicos en neurolingüística proponen que las funciones pragmáticas se asociarían de modo crítico con el hemisferio derecho. Sin embargo, como mostramos en este estudio, múltiples funciones pragmáticas (desde la prosodia hasta el procesamiento de lenguaje figurativo) pueden verse preservadas tanto en la lengua materna como la extranjera incluso cuando el hemisferio derecho presenta lesiones extendidas en regiones frontales, temporales y parietales. Estos resultados invitan a repensar el rol de cada hemisferio en el procesamiento de funciones vitales para la comunicación verbal. |